Mother Coaches High School Basketball Team with Her Son on the Roster

A mother coaches a high school basketball team with her son on the roster. The video points out that she is believed to be the first female coach of a men’s high school basketball team in Massachusetts history. Watch this unique, sweet and heartwarming story.

Basketball is a game known and loved by many. Who doesn’t love settling in to watch two evenly matched teams battle on the hardwood? When basketball is played correctly, it can be a thing of beauty. In some places throughout the country (Indiana), basketball is more than just a game; it’s almost a way of life.

Whatever your level of enthusiasm for and familiarity with basketball, you’ve likely been to a high school basketball game a time or two. Going to a game at the local high school seems to be an activity everyone does growing up.

A clip posted on YouTube tells of a unique high school basketball team. They don’t stick out because of how they play or their record necessarily, but because of their unusual makeup. Linda Martindale, a former college basketball player at Arizona, is the coach of the Lincoln-Sudbury High School basketball team—the men’s team, which includes her 17-year-old son.

The clip begins with Linda at home with her son asking about his classes but then rapidly cuts to her at practice as she loudly corrects and admonishes the players. Nolan, Linda’s son, admits that while they are on the court, he makes sure to refer to her as coach.

Just because Nolan is Linda’s son does not make him immune from criticism. One player stated that she is harder on her son than anyone else on the team.

But despite all the Xs, Os and timeouts, Linda is still Nolan’s mother, and they have a special, heartwarming ritual before every game. They share a loving embrace moments before tipoff.

What a beautiful story of love and a special bond between a mother and her son. 

Proverbs 22:6 “If a child is trained up in the right way, even when he is old he will not be turned away from it.”